The So-Called Guardians of the Way

So-Called Defenders of the Way

In an instant, the Earth Egg's hard shell flew everywhere, and some of it even struck me.

The Earth Egg's shell had originally been extremely hard, but at this moment, it happened to be the very time when the Earth Egg spirit insect was emerging into the world. Cracks had split through the shell, and its hardness had changed as well. The iron nail hit home with one strike, directly shattering the hard shell.

I hurriedly threw myself forward and searched through the shards of shell for the Earth Egg spirit insect. It had already fallen beneath a rock, giving off a faint blue glow. Dirt clung to the surface of its body, leaving it filthy beyond recognition.

The Earth Egg spirit insect was only as big as a little finger. Having just broken out of its shell, it was like a newborn baby. When that iron nail came flying in, it was like a calamity crashing down on its head. I picked up the Earth Egg spirit insect and found that its body was icy cold and a little stiff, as if it were dead.

"God damn it, you really know how to make a joke out of me!" My chest felt stifled. All the effort I had poured in over these many days had actually been destroyed in one stroke. I had thought that as long as I safely made it through tonight, I would no longer have to fear the Innate Insect, nor spend every day trembling with unease. But at this life-or-death juncture, something had happened to the Earth Egg spirit insect.

God damn it, why were you doing this to me? Had I not suffered enough? Just when I was about to escape the sea of bitterness, you shoved me back down into its abyss.

The Earth Egg spirit insect's faint-blue body had already lost its luster. Although moonlight shone upon it, it did not move at all. My heart felt as if it had been pierced by an auger, and tears of anger and despair nearly burst from my eyes.

In that instant, I felt a deep despair.

My body trembled with rage. I put the Earth Egg spirit insect into the bamboo tube I had prepared beforehand, gritted my teeth, and shouted, "Screw your ancestors! Whoever the hell you are, get out here!"

The Skeleton Man also howled and yelled along with me. Corpse energy swelled all over his body, and his joints made cracking sounds.

Under the moonlight, shadows flickered, and five Daoists in Daoist robes leapt out from the darkness. Two of them went after the Five Spirits fleeing toward Clearwater Creek.

The remaining three Daoists surrounded the Skeleton Man and me. Two men and one woman; in the middle was a young Daoist nun with her hair coiled into a bun.

The young Daoist on the left said, "Miss Gu, be careful. This little zombie is very strange. Before his corpse energy has completely dispersed, don't get too close, in case he bites you."

The young Daoist nun in the middle called out, "There's no need to be anxious, Daoist brothers. Judging from his shouting, he shouldn't be a little zombie. He just has some corpse energy on him. He's probably the child of a corpse-driver's family from Western Hunan."

The old Daoist on the right had a gloomy face. He had already pinched a talisman paper in his hand, and his eyes fell viciously on the Skeleton Man. He looked ready to strike at any moment.

My gaze swept over the three of them, and I barked sternly, "Who threw that iron nail just now and hurt my Earth Egg spirit insect? Get the hell out here!"

The young Daoist nun's face startled slightly, and she said, "I knocked it down. At such a young age, instead of learning what's proper, you specialize in raising poisonous gu insects to seek wealth and harm lives, and you even made such a terrifying skeleton zombie. I killed your witchcraft poison insect; that was where righteousness lay."

I clenched both fists, so furious my eyes almost bulged with blood, and roared, "Shut your mouth. You killed my spirit insect and cut off my chance to survive. And you insulted my character. This matter won't end today. Even before I, Xiao Kunlun, die, I'll drag you down with me."

The young Daoist nun gave a cold laugh. "I insulted your character? Ridiculous. If you weren't a vicious little thief, why would five strange evil spirit bodies, fierce ghosts and malicious ghosts, obey your commands? Calling a poison insect a spirit insect—you can't fool me."

I grew even angrier and shouted, "I was deeply poisoned by an insect. It wasn't easy for me to obtain a Feng Shui spirit-natured Earth Egg. Today, the Earth Egg spirit insect broke out of its shell, just in time to save my life. For no reason at all, you threw an iron nail and killed the Earth Egg spirit insect. My life is gone too..."

The Skeleton Man's bones crackled as his tiny eyes glared viciously at the young Daoist nun.

The young Daoist nun's expression changed. For a long while, she could not say a word.

The old Daoist on the right shouted, "Raising gu and raising corpses have long been prevalent in Western Hunan. What poison insect, what spirit insect? Why bother bickering with him! We cannot harm people, but getting rid of zombies is still allowed."

The moment the old Daoist's voice fell, he took a quick step forward and threw out the talisman paper in his hand, sending it straight at the Skeleton Man. The Skeleton Man saw how formidable the talisman paper was, shifted his body, and dodged it.

The old Daoist took out an ink-line reel from his person. The young Daoist followed him forward, and the two of them worked together. With a zila sound, they pulled a red thread out of the ink-line reel, and a thick stench of blood drifted over.

The old Daoist hooked the ink line and pulled it back. The red line snapped, shooting straight toward the Skeleton Man. The Skeleton Man roared several times, without the slightest fear, and lunged straight forward. With a thud, the red line sprang out and struck the Skeleton Man, printing a red line across his body.

The Skeleton Man flew out as if he had been struck by a heavy fist, corpse energy pouring from his body. My heart cried, Not good. The ink-line reel should have been the old Daoist's ritual implement. It was filled with dog's blood, paired with cinnabar; when the ink line snapped out, it was specifically used to restrain zombies.

Although the Skeleton Man was formidable, one thing subdued another. With two Daoists attacking, the Skeleton Man's life was in danger. I turned and ran toward the Skeleton Man, spread my arms, and shielded him in front of me, shouting, "Old ox-nosed Daoist, if you want to kill my friend, kill me first."

The old Daoist laughed and said, "Little child, a large amount of corpse energy has gathered on you, and you keep company with poisonous gu insects. You are already a little evil thing yourself, without the look of a living person at all. Don't think I, Zhang Yinjun, won't kill you."

I laughed and said, "If you want to kill me, it won't be that easy. This is the Miao Borderlands, the homeland of gu poison, where the Golden Silkworm Gu, one of the ten great Divine Gu Insects, resides."

The old Daoist Zhang Yinjun's expression changed abruptly. His steps retreated slightly by a few paces, but then his eyes shifted and he immediately laughed loudly. "Little child, the powerful Golden Silkworm Gu is controlled by Great Gu Masters in the Miao villages. There are no Great Gu Masters here. This poor Daoist has no need to fear any Golden Silkworm Gu."

The Skeleton Man made clacking sounds and shouted, "Kunlun... Kunlun, I protect... run..." The Skeleton Man spoke simple words. I understood clearly that he wanted to sacrifice himself to block the old Daoist so I could flee for my life.

The female Daoist's pupils widened, and she said in shock, "Martial Uncle Zhang, skeleton zombies are all bloody and savage. Why would one have humanity? How could he actually know to give himself up to save someone else?"

Zhang Yinjun laughed and said, "Miss Meng Fu, you may not know this. Once skeleton zombies cultivate to a certain level, they also become incomparably cunning. He says such things merely to deceive our sympathy. If we fell for it, we would be far too foolish."

I looked back at the Skeleton Man and shook my head. "Brother Skeleton, you and I have spent several months together. How could I, Xiao Kunlun, abandon a friend and run for my life alone? I have a way!"

Zhang Yinjun shouted sternly, "Little child, if you don't move aside, don't blame me, Zhang Yinjun, for being ruthless. I'll count to three... three, two, one..."

Before he could count out "one," I took a deep breath and ran straight out. Over these past days, under the Skeleton Man's urging, I had risen early to run every morning, and my speed and reaction had already improved tremendously.

Zhang Yinjun sneered again and kept shaking his head. "Truly beyond saving!" He tugged the ink line, preparing to snap it toward me. I suddenly changed direction, circled around from the side, and lunged straight at the female Daoist nun.

Zhang Yinjun noticed the change and hurriedly shouted, "Miss Gu, be careful."

The female Daoist nun's expression changed abruptly. She shot out an iron nail from her hand at extreme speed. I had no time to dodge. My right shoulder was hit, and blood immediately flowed out again. Fortunately, she was not very old and lacked strength, so the iron nail did not stab very deeply into my body.

Enduring the pain, I rushed to the female Daoist nun's side in the blink of an eye and grabbed out with my right hand. The female Daoist nun was extremely agile. But I was not bad either. My right hand chased after her, clamped onto her right hand, and with the momentum pulled her in, capturing her.

"Don't come over. I have the Three-Corpse Snake Gu on me, and the Gu King Insect too. If any of you move, she'll die." I held the female Daoist nun and shouted loudly.

Zhang Yinjun and the young Daoist surrounded us.

The young Daoist said anxiously, "Little evil thing, let Miss Gu go at once. If you're a man, you shouldn't lay hands on a girl."

I laughed and said, "You two thieving Daoists, one old and one young, can bully the few with the many and deal with my Brother Skeleton alone. Now you're saying I'm a man bullying a woman. You self-proclaimed righteous gentlemen who cultivate the Way are truly funny. You hold yourselves to such low standards, yet you demand that a little evil thing like me follow the rules. It's enough to make a person die laughing."

Ever since I had encountered Gu Xiucheng in the gu-refining forbidden ground of Camellia Village, I had had no good feelings toward Daoists. Today I ran into three at once. Heaven really had it in for me.

The young Daoist choked and could not speak.

The old Daoist Zhang Yinjun's face changed abruptly, and he said, "Zhang Ben, he really does have unknown gu insects on him. If he truly has the Three-Corpse Snake Gu, don't act rashly. Among the Miao people, the Golden Silkworm Gu is the most tyrannical and domineering; among the Dong People, the Three-Corpse Snake Gu is the most vicious and savage!"

The female Daoist nun shouted angrily, "Just now, I was still wondering whether I had misunderstood you! But judging from your every word and deed, you're an unforgivable little evil thing."

I burst out laughing. "Foolish Taoist. The land of the Miao Borderlands has its own laws. When the Five Spirits were injured, they asked me to treat them with spirit insects. You killed the spirit insects, not only cutting off my chance to survive, but the Five Spirits will have their souls scattered and spirits dispersed too. You broke the laws of the Miao Borderlands, yet you want to frame me as some little evil thing."

I took out Green Nest-Head, pressed it against the female Taoist nun, and said, "Old thieving Taoist, open a path and let my Skeleton brother leave. Otherwise, once my Gu King Insect attacks, this delicate little Taoist nun will turn into a puddle of blood."

The muscles on Zhang Yinjun's face twitched. He said viciously, "There is no evil thing in this world that can command me. Today, this old Taoist will kill this skeleton zombie no matter what. I simply won't move aside, and you still won't dare kill anyone! Your cultivation is too shallow. You can't bring yourself to strike with a black hand."

My heart jolted. Ginger really did grow spicier with age—Zhang Yinjun had actually seen through my thoughts. If he did not let Skeleton Man leave, was I really going to use Green Nest-Head to kill this young little Taoist nun before my eyes?

My hand trembled a little.

During this period of time, although I had dealt with gu insects countless times—Blood Mantis, Wu Daochao's Gu King Insect, and then the gu battle at Qingya Village—if I really had to use a gu insect against a girl, I truly could not do such a thing.

"The most shameless people in this world are you so-called defenders of the Way!" A familiar voice came through the night. "To think you would force a kind, innocent child like this."